Thread: Electrical Help!

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Well, the 2009 season is upon us. It's usually around July that I start thinking about the big day, and this year is no different.

This is a problem, though, that has been plaguing me since H'ween 2008. Last year was our first year in the current house, and we ran into a problem. I'm hoping that someone here will have a relatively simple fix to the challenge at hand.

It seems that all of our outdoor outlets (the garage, the front porch, and the deck in the back yard) are all on the same circuit. Where it gets interesting is if you go to the basement and check out the breaker box - the circuit comes off the box and goes directly into a GCFI, then splits off to the various external outlets.

The result? You guessed it. I can run 4 flood lights and a fogger before tripping the GCFI, and leaving the entire haunt in the dark. This year I've got three 400W foggers, and I have decided that I definitely need more lighting - preferably more task oriented fixtures to focus on individual props.

Does anyone have any creative ideas on how to remedy my dilemma? I don't particularly want to bring an electrician in to wire a dedicated Halloween circuit, but I'm a visual geek and I need my lighting!

Thanks!

I'm assuming that the circuit breaker is a 15A, so yes, you'll be popping it with three foggers and a few lights. I have a similar problem - only two outlets in proximity to the display.
It seems odd that a GFCI would trip on an current demand overload. They're designed to trip on ground faults - inconsistencies in the ground line vs. the "hot" line, such as what happens when you drop the toaster in the bathtub. The actual circuit breaker is supposed to trip when the current demand exceeds it's rating. Are you certain that one of your lights doesn't have a short somewhere in the wiring? The inrush current demand from a fogger when the heater turns on can also cause spiking problems.
You may want to invest $20-$30 in a Kill-A-Watt meter so you can check the wattage draw of your devices. Changing over to LED spot/flood lights will reduce the demand, as well. You can also try using battery-powered LED spots for individual prop lighting.

You can always run some extension cords from different inside rooms out the windows.

Its an electrical code thing that all exterior outlets are required to be on a ground fault as well as those in bathrooms and on the kitchen counter depending on when the house was built.

You may want to change out the GFCI outlet as some times they can go bad or are over sensitive. Of course only do this if you feel comfortable and turn of the breaker in the box. Un hook one wire at a time and hook it to the corresponding location on the new GFCI

Thanks, guys!

Yeah, I figured it was code to have the outdoor outlets behind a ground fault. Another thought I had was to maybe look at some wired landscape lights for task lighting. (I can't imagine solar would have enough kick to really have any effect...if someone knows more than me, please let me know!)

If that proves to be not very cost effective, I may just resort to the leads coming off different circuits. It's not what I WANT to do, but since it's only for a couple weeks per year, that might make the most sense.

Thanks again as always!

The two outlets that I use for the display are on individual GFCI outlets. In fact, all the GFCI's in my house are at the actual point of use - none are at the breaker box. I've never seen multiple outlets ganged to a single interrupter. It may be moot, but it seems a shame to kill power to non-faulting outlets.
Perhaps you could have an electrician remove the multi-GFCI from the circuit and replace the outlets with individual GFCI's, but I don't know if that would gain you anything since you would still have three outlets going to a single breaker. The alternative is to cut in new breakers, of course.

Originally Posted by scareisburg

You can always run some extension cords from different inside rooms out the windows.

Just wanted to underscore this idea. I had en extension cord dropped out of the upstairs window and another from the hearth room out the back door. Really helps distribute the load. Plus, get a Kill-A-Watt meter. That will help you add up the wattages of the stuff you are using.

Originally Posted by BallstonManor

It seems that all of our outdoor outlets (the garage, the front porch, and the deck in the back yard) are all on the same circuit. Where it gets interesting is if you go to the basement and check out the breaker box - the circuit comes off the box and goes directly into a GCFI, then splits off to the various external outlets.

When you say splits off, do you mean the the other outlets are coming from the second set of screws on the GCFI? If that is the case, you could try connecting the other outlets to the GCFI main screws. If the other outlets are requiring GCFI protection, then you need to replace the other outlets with GCFI ones. That way, not all the loads would be going through one GCFI. That should reduce the issue of the one tripping.

Also like everyone has said, try using LED spots to cut down on the wattage being used. Or run entension cords from other circuits.

I can't imagine that the load (4 flood lights and a fogger) is causing your problem. Either there's something else connected to that breaker or there's something wrong with the breaker/circuit. Four 100W light bulbs and a 400W fogger will draw < 8A of current.

I would also recommend going to LED flood/spot lights. I use eight LED flood lights in my display and they draw < 1A of current total.

I also run an extension cord from the inside of my house to a dedicated circuit breaker to run my 1200W VEI V-950 fogger. You should be able to run all three foggers off of one circuit.

Do the LED floods provide ample light? I've always stayed away from them because it just seemed impossible that such tiny lights (even in clusters such as floods) would be bright enough!

Ok , first off , if you use a convertor calculator you will see that the 3 foggers alone will suck up 10 amps byt themselves .
Power Calculators for quick conversions.
And thats JUST the heaters , thats NOT the little pump that pumps the juice to the heater element . Also , that rating is for AFTER the heater is running . Now , if you were to put an inline meter there , you will find that those 3 foggers alone , when the heaters have to heat at the same time , will be over your 15 amp breakers capacity .
Your best bet is to use the link above to figure your power consumption per piece of equipment ( fogger, fog lamp , motors or whatever ) per breaker, that way , you won't have any issues with the breakers popping during the show/dsiplay .
Sometimes , you have to do things that get costly , like , have additional lines run or , stronger breaker box put in . The guys over on DIYC go and have 200 amp mains put in , so that they can run MORE and MORE lights for their Christmas lights display . And THAT gets VERY costly .
Again , your best bet is use the calculator and figure what power your using . It might be a better idea to run some extension cords , then risk burning down your house . ( circuit breakers DO occasionaly fail regretfully )
If you figure 10 amps per 15 amp breaker , you will be in good shape .